Wednesday, June 20, 2007

CNN, YouTube Team Up to Host First-Ever Voter-Generated Presidential Debates

Webwire and YouTube reported that CNN and YouTube plan to bring two presidential debates to the American public in a live forum, featuring video questions submitted to YouTube to be broadcast and answered by the candidates on CNN. CNN’s Anderson Cooper will moderate the two-hour debates and pose follow-up questions. CNN had previously announced the arrangement between the two companies for the upcoming debates.

The Democratic debate, the first Democratic National Committee sanctioned presidential forum of the 2008 election cycle will be held at the military school, the Citadel, in Charleston, South Carolina from 7:00 to 9:00 PM (ET) on July 23rd live on CNN. The Republican forum hosted by CNN and YouTube will be held on September 17th in Florida from 7:00 to 9:00 PM (PT).

Jim Walton, CNN Worldwide president, was quoted as saying that “These debates take the bold step of embracing the ever-increasing role of the internet in politics. The inclusion of the massive online community enables these debates to engage more viewers and potential voters than ever before”.

YouTube will feature special debate coverage on its “You Choose ’08” platform and its Citizentube political channel before and after the debates. Immediately after the debates, user questions and candidate answers will be featured prominently on YouTube where people can interact with the content through YouTube’s community features, extending the life of the debates.

In addition to the live airing on CNN, the debates will appear on CNN’s multiple platforms. The events will be simulcast on CNN.com, CNN International, CNN en Español, CNN Radio and CNN Airport Network. CNN.com’s Election Center, available at www.CNN.com/ELECTION, also will provide extensive coverage and analysis of the debates, including behind-the-scenes reports, podcasts and on-demand video, including the entire debates in streaming and downloadable formats. The broadcast of the debates also will be made available to all CNN Radio affiliates worldwide, with special coverage available on Headline News and to CNN Newsource affiliates.

Guidelines for all videos include:

• Be original -- choose your own approach• Be personal -- your perspective is important.• Choose your focus -- you can address one or all of the candidates• Keep it quick -- your question should be less than 30 seconds• Make it look good -- speak loudly and keep that camera steady.• Provide context -- in your question or video description, include your name & home town.• Please note -- all videos are subject to the YouTube Terms of Use. .• Anderson Cooper had a few bits of advice for questioners, including one that some might not follow. "Keep it clean," he said.

Perhaps 20 or 30 questions are likely to be used during the two-hour debates. A few YouTubers will get invitations to join the live audience. Some purists might wish YouTubers could vote on which questions to pose. CNN, however, will retain that job, choosing the most creative and compelling videos. All submissions, however, will be available on YouTube, before or after the debates.

CNN to Guide Viewers to Charities

CNN plans to go beyond reporting the news by directing its viewers to charity and relief efforts involved in some of their stories.

Hurricane Katrina and the Asian tsunami proved to CNN that viewers want to respond to the news, Jim Walton, CNN Worldwide president, said Tuesday. The "Impact Your World" initiative begins on Wednesday to coincide with World Refugee Day.

CNN is setting up a special Web site with contact information for charities in categories like refugees and homelessness, poverty, natural disasters and homelessness. Viewers will be told about this site when CNN does relevant stories.

"It just seemed to make a lot of sense," Walton said. "We've been aggressively working in these areas."

CNN is working with the Web site Charitynavigator.com, which rates charities for effectiveness, to make sure that it is sending viewers to effective organizations and is not playing favorites.

"We want to be as agnostic as possible," Walton said.

He said the project was the brainstorm of Tonja Brown, a CNN employee who worked in marketing.

Stork Working Overtime at CNN

CNN's Washington bureau "welcomed three baby girls into the world last week, all within a 24-hour period," The Examiner reports.

CNN the TV Channel is No Match for CNN the Website

The breaking news model that CNN built its empire on now appears to be more suited for its website rather than its cable television station. Time Warner CEO, Richard Parsons, was recently quoted as saying “I worry about CNN more than I do about CNN.com”. Mr. Parsons, who was discussing the company’s entire portfolio at a London media conference last week, bordered on pessimism about the state of CNN Cable News.

CNN's ratings have been on a steady decline since 2003, when it regularly got 689,000 households to tune in each day, to a low of 383,000 last year, according to Nielsen Media Research. For the first six months of this year, it's up to 431,000. However, Fox News, its younger, conservative rival, routinely pounds it in the ratings, often garnering twice the household ratings and recently beating CNN in prime time on the coverage of the presidential debates.

Over on the website, though, new visitors are up nearly 25% to 26 million in April compared with the same period last year. That, coupled with the 90 million worldwide subscribers to CNN Mobile, suggests that CNN's breaking-news model fits in better online than it does on the television set in America's living rooms.

Those ratings figures are paralleled by ad income. While revenue has grown for CNN.com to $71.4 million since 2003, TV revenue has dropped 11 percent to $378.5 million in the same period

TV news has historically had a harder time attracting an audience than entertainment programming. CNN ranks third among Time Warner's cable properties behind TNT and TBS, which regularly reel in 3 million to 4 million viewers in prime time. CNN occasionally gets about half that for special-event coverage.

CNN’s prime competitor, Fox News, built its audience by not relying solely on news, but packing its shows with opinions and hosts who are not shy or quiet-spoken about expressing their views. This approach makes for what some view a more entertaining experience. Fox News has become quite capable at adopting a strong point of view, similar to what talk radio has done for years. This has led viewers to treat the cable channel more like radio, a companion throughout the day.

CNN, on the other hand, has its roots firmly entrenched in a more traditional approach to journalism, and has built its reputation on its ability to deliver breaking news 24 hours a day. The web has diluted that core mission, and CNN has since struggled to redefine itself and its mission in a way that doesn't feel like just the liberal version of Fox News.

"You're right, Fox has higher ratings than CNN U.S., but ... CNN U.S. has more individuals watching, every quarter, every year," said Jim Walton, president of CNN Worldwide. "We don't have as high ratings because the CNN viewer doesn't spend as much time watching." With the advent of podcasts, news over cell phones and blackberries, as well as other media platforms, CNN is determined according to Walton "….. to be able to serve our news anywhere in the world at any time on any platform." Wherever you get your news, Walton wants it to be on a CNN platform.

CNN wins 2 2007 Edward R. Murrow Awards

CNN won 2 Edward R. Murrow Awards for 2007 according to TVNewser. The awards for CNN were presented for

CNN's Lou Dobbs to Speak at National Press Club Luncheon

Lou Dobbs, anchor and managing editor of CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight.will speak at the National Press Club Luncheon on the topic "Politics and the Economy." on June 26, 2007.

National Press Club events are open to NPC members and their guests only. Credentialed press may cover Luncheons and Newsmakers. Events listed are subject to last-minute changes. Space may be reserved at any NPC Luncheon by calling 202-662-7501. To save time and avoid waiting in line, tickets can be paid for in advance by using a credit card or putting tickets on a house account if there is a credit card on file with the Club. Reservations are not required for Newsmakers, unless otherwise noted.

To find out more about what's happening at the National Press Club, check out the National Press Club's Web site at http://npc.press.org/

Alerting Beatles Fans - A Must See Larry King!!

Calling all Beatles fans: You will not want to miss the June 26th edition of "Larry King Live."

Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison will be the guests in a live telecast from the Beatles Revolution Lounge at The Mirage in Las Vegas. They will discuss the lasting influence of the Beatles music and the contributions of the late John Lennon and George Harrison to that music and the music world in general.

Another topic will be the first anniversary of the Cirque du Soleil's Love show in Las Vegas, and another guest will be Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberte.

"Larry King Live," of course, will start at 9 ET that evening.

A must-see interview!!

For those that miss it, Larry King has a new weekly podcast featuring highlights from his show - subscribe here!

Dr. Sanjay Gupta added to Board of Directors of the Lance Armstrong Foundation

"Dr. Gupta is an influential health expert and a passionate advocate for health promotion, prevention and well-being," says Doug Ulman, president of the LAF, in a prepared statement.

"Because Gupta has devoted his career to inspiring and empowering Americans to prevent and overcome disease, he is a perfect addition to the LAF team. We are honored to benefit from his energy and expertise and his commitment to fight cancer," adds Ulman.

Since 2001, Gupta has served as CNN's chief medical correspondent, providing expert commentary and on-the-scene reporting. He is also a staff and faculty member at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta and a board-certified neurosurgeon.

The Lance Armstrong Foundation, founded by champion cyclist and cancer survivor Lance Armstrong, focuses on preventing cancer and improving the lives of people affected by the disease.

8 comments:

Wonderful first post, Annie Kate!I've loved The Beatles all my life and my eyes flew open a few nights ago when Larry King said Paul, Ringo, Yoko, and Olivia are to be on June 26th. It will be a monumental interview to have them all together since this just doesn't happen and hasn't happened to my knowledge. How exciting and I can't wait to see it!!!!! Will have to set the recorder for this one especially.

Do you know how to send feedback to AM? I want to send some from today.

Also, you have to get the Ali and John Roberts video from this morning. It will definately make Comedy Central. See if you can find it. Ali was doing a report on MS and Vista and the search engine thing and he made a comment like searching his hard drive for John Roberts and have pictures of him on his hard drive. Anyway, it went down the tubes and was priceless. Colbert will be all over it.

At the top of the cnn.com page there is a list of the shows with links their respective pages like AC360, Lou Dobbs, Larry King, American Morning, etc. Click on the American Morning link and it will take you to their page. Their feedback link should be in the top left hand corner of the page under the banner. Hope this helps

I wonder how long it will be until TV is as obsolete as 8 track tapes. On Demand shows and movies either via digital cable/ satellite or the internet has real appeal- especially of those of us who don't have the patience to sit through commercials or plan our lives around a strict TV schedule.

What's in the water at the DC Bureau?

The YouTube debates should be interesting. Technology is playing such an important role in this election cycle- its great to see the candidates and the media adapting to the change in culture.

Maybe it was the ratings at Cnn.com that gave way to Cnn.impact your world and to the youtube-generated presidential debates. So CNN might as well used that ratings to their advantage. In economics, it's like a synergy and the output produced can be also used to produced outputs bilaterally.

I am so looking forward to the youtube debates and not just cause Anderson is moderating :P

Do you think they would put a question from a Canadian who wants to know what the candidates would do to build on and strengthen the US-Canadian relationship.......it has to do with foreign affaris right.....or am I pulling at straws hoping Anderson would say my name on tv again :P